Do Others Know the Answer to This Question “What Do You Do?”

When I meet with someone the meeting typically started with this question: What do you do? The answer was always: I am a financial planner, I am an accountant, I am a business coach, etc. I always found this to be an inadequate answer because it does not tell me anything.

I change the question to “what outcomes do your customers experience in working with you?” and found even less could answer that question.

I change the question a third time and I now ask “why would I choose you from the hundreds or thousands of people who do what you do?” Still blank stares. I never thought these we tough questions nor did I think they should be tough questions but questions every sales and marketing professional should know the answers to.

I can to the realization that people confuse what they do with how they do it.

Let’s talk about how one man addressed this issue. I have written about Walt Disney before so let’s use him again as an example of a master marketer.

Walt Disney came from what some would consider to be an abusive household. This upbringing influenced his business life in a powerful and dynamic way.

If you were to ask Walt Disney what he did he would say something like this “we create family memories.”

I still remember, so many years ago, the first time I watched the wizard’s dual between Merlin and Mad Madam Min. If you have not seen this video please click on the link below and enjoy the next five minutes. It will be some of the best fun you will have all day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs-J268QxzE

He was the best at marketing. You realize this when you watch scenes from Bambi where you got to meet the rabbit named Thumper and the skunk named Flewer.

He taught the value of truthful communication in Pinocchio.

Or the value of persistence as Wort, as he was called, pulled the sword out of the stone.

I bet you have memories of your own from The Lion King or Finding Nemo or the hundreds of other movies the Disney Corporation created. You might remember a trip to Disneyworld or Epicot Center or maybe watching the Mickey Mouse Club as you grew up.

Disney made memories. He used his books and movies as tools of his trade but his company was build from the ground up to create memories. Some would suggest they were memories he wanted to have as he was growing up.

So the next time you meet with someone and they ask you what you do, think about the memory you make for your customers or clients and answer accordingly. If you do not know, then ask your customers. They can and will tell you. Use this knowledge to communicate with your prospects your marketing message.